Advocates seek fix after school misconduct case reveals legal gap

Advocates seek fix after school misconduct case reveals legal gap Pilar Pedraza KSTP Closing a legal loophole to protect students The push is on to change Minnesota law so it bans sexual contact between students and any school staff. This move comes after 5 Eyewitness News first told you the Anoka County Attorney discovered a loophole in the law that allows it in some cases. READ MORE: Paraprofessional’s sexual relationship with student prompts questions about Minnesota laws “This isn’t about going on a witch hunt,” said Jeff Dion, CEO of the Zero Abuse Project . “It is about creating and enforcing appropriate boundaries.” Dion’s organization is working with the Anoka County Attorney to fix the loophole in the state’s criminal sexual conduct law. County Attorney Brad Johnson said he couldn’t charge a para-professional who’d had sex with a 17-year-old student with a crime because they were only 31 months apart in age , instead of 36 or more. That age gap exists in law for a reason. “You know, you’ve got a boyfriend and girlfriend, and their birthdays are six months apart. And then what happens when one of them turns 18 and the other hasn’t?” explained Dion. He adds that it’s not meant to protect someone who is abusing their position. “It is about the power differential,” he said. When asked if that means he’s thinking maybe there just needs to be an entirely separate law that applies to school employees, he said, “Absolutely, absolutely. Because that makes clear that it’s because someone is in a position of trust and authority that is what is being violated.” The state’s criminal sexual conduct law dates back to 1975. In the 1990s, lawmakers banned “people in authority” from sexual contact with minors. In 2005, they added “licensed educators” to the list. In both cases, an age-gap exception remains in place. “I think that age differential should not at all apply to statutes which prohibit sexual relationships between students and staff,” Dion said. The Zero Abuse Project works with lawmakers around the country on sex crimes laws and says this should be an easy and fairly quick fix for Minnesota to make. “Whether they are a teacher, a janitor working in the cafeteria, a reading specialist, or tech support,” Dion said about which school employees should be included in the ban. Basically, anyone who’s paid by a school or volunteers at one. And, he said, the ages of the students shouldn’t matter any more than the ages of the employees and volunteers. “If you have a high school senior who’s 18 years old, they still should be prohibited from having sexual relations with staff members.” 5 Eyewitness News is also looking into how many cases like this one in Anoka County exist. Friday, the Minnesota County Attorneys Association said this was the first such case they’d heard of, and they’re now looking into the issue.